


Seven or Nothing

by Chew_Becca



Category: GOT7
Genre: Alternate Universe - Grand Theft Auto Setting, Gen, Gun Violence, One Shot, POV Third Person, Slight 2jae because I couldn't help myself lmao
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-29
Updated: 2019-05-29
Packaged: 2020-03-29 10:06:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19017724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chew_Becca/pseuds/Chew_Becca
Summary: Based on the pacific standard heist in GTA online, hope y'all enjoy!





	Seven or Nothing

In a matter of weeks, although it felt like years – the group of 7 committed a whole variety of felonies in nothing more than their casual clothes and ski masks from their local corner store. Their criminal spree had evolved them into something else though. Gone were the colourful purples and oranges; bomber jackets had been exchanged for layers of Kevlar armour in tactical matte black. Slip on vans and trainers made way for steel toe capped combat boots. Their pockets were now filled with cables and grenades instead of gum wrappers and loose change.

Yeah, things were different now.

Im Jaebum - or simply “ _Beom_ ” according to the FBI’s Most Wanted - stood facing their blueprint covered wall; a whiteboard to his right and a high-resolution map of Los Santos to his left. They had already overruled their boss, JY Park, when it came to the operational details of the heist. Their boss had his uses, no doubt, but it’d take a proper fool to think that parachuting off a bridge was the sanest course of action. As the leader of the pack walked through the plan, he ran through the maps of Raton Canyon to figure just how the _hell_ they were going to get through it on purloined bikes.

“Who says we gotta go by the proper plan though... As long as we escape in one piece with the full cheque then it’s happy days for all of us right?” Jinyoung huffed, arms crossed and brows slightly furrowed from the frustration of the situation.

“If boss finds out that we went through all that hassle of setting up, robbing the motorbikes from one of the country’s most dangerous motorbike crews, and hiding them for a week straight just for them not to be used, consider ourselves done for.”

“Think about it though… We have to be one of the most loyal crews out of all the others that boss has underneath his belt. I’m sure he’d be more lenient with what we do with the amount of trust he puts into us with every heist. Jinyoung has a point for sure.” Youngjae noted, looking up at Jaebum expectedly.

When it came to the younger, Jaebum hated how he couldn’t resist Youngjae no matter the situation. As much as he convinces himself that his reason is due to the boy being his dorm partner, he’ll never admit his admiration for his fellow member. Besides, the thought of them getting their hands on something more armoured like their beloved fully armoured vehicle seemed less of a deathwish than riding out in the open with a motorbike.

Jaebum scowled to himself for a moment, looking back at Youngjae briefly before back at the other crew members. “Fine. Even though this is last minute I’m sure it wouldn’t harm to take the Kuruma. It is fully armoured after all.” He shrugged, earning a scoff from the youngest member of the crew.

“Youngjae has to have some kind of God complex I swear. If it was anyone else he would’ve still been-“ Yugyeom would start to complain but a flustered Jaebum did not hesitate to cut him off.

“Quit being off topic, we don’t have time for that shit. We have exactly two hours before we’re heading towards the biggest heist of our lives – Stay focused.” Jaebum made sure to be stern with his words, turning his back to them shortly after as he rewrote the plan on the whiteboard.

As the group discussed and Jaebum noted down, the tension within the room died down eventually as the crew calmed down, the plan looking way more achievable now that everything had been thought out properly.

“Can I be _backup_?” Bambam half-joked as Jaebum ran through their assignments. Jinyoung and Youngjae shot him vaguely-derisive glances, causing Bambam to fidget in his seat whilst going slightly pale. He had gone through most of this crime spree feeling like the weakest link, the loose end, _The Odd Man Out_. By his own admission, he wasn’t a hardened criminal like the rest of them were, preferring tomfoolery to violence and terror. Although clumsy, there was no denying that he was talented – who else among them could fly four categories of aircraft after all? – But bursting through the front door of a downtown bank was well… not his cup of tea.

Jaebum ended up pairing him off with Mark and Yugyeom on crowd control duty. It was the logical match-up, everyone agreed wordlessly. Bambam and Yugyeom had known each other longer than everyone else, back when Bambam had still been a ‘fresh of the Boeing’ Thai amongst the organisation. Trust was the most important thing to have in the underground world of organised crime, and trust is sure what Bambam and Yugyeom had. Complete and implicit. And if there was anyone who would make sure Bambam got through this insane murder-spree of a heist alive, it would be the maknae himself.

Jinyoung was chosen for designated driver when it came to getting to the bank as well as escaping the premises and ensuring their escape. Driving was sure a speciality of the well organised member, and if there was anyone that was good with words of encouragement, it would have to be him. Although aggressive, he mostly lifts the spirit of the crew up anytime they feel like it’s the end of the road on their fellow escapades.

When it came to any job, Jackson would always be in charge of weaponry so it was only right for Jaebum to assign him to the installed machine gun atop of their vehicle. As of today, Jackson lived up to his nickname of Gunzerker due to how skilled he was when it came to machinery.

They agreed beforehand on the split of their take: Zoe and Flick agreed to take their cut combined as it would be fair and easier to split between the other members – as well as Hannah and Morgan as they were also roommates. % each for the roommates and 15% for the other 2 associates. Given the size of the haul they were planning to make it seemed more than equitable - doubly, given that the leader had done most of the murdering.

Jackson wasn’t in it for the money though. Money was _nice_ and all - he certainly made it hand over fist - but the single-minded pursuit of it had never been his style. He did what he did because he loved the thrill of it all. It might’ve not been the best for his ADHD as the rush most of likely fed his hyperactivity but having the chance to make use of it surely made him feel on top of the world.

And somehow, that just happened to put him in a position where he would be storming a bank with six other heavily-armed men soon enough.

Once geared up and ready, the crew were ready to leave. The elevator ride down to the exit of their headquarters felt more nerve-wracking than any other Bambam had done within his criminal life. To calm his nerves, he mostly concentrated and listened to his co-workers as they discussed the relative merits of hijacking a N.O.O.S.E. van on the way out. After a while, they figured it would just be easier to use what they had – acknowledging the fact that they had an advantage of the minigun attachment Jackson would be spraying the cops with.

The morning air was cool as they exited the building, masks in hand. Mark checked the weather app on his phone and let his fellow members know that it was only 14 degrees, being good for the crew as they were already sweltering in their body armour.

“Wait, where’s my mask?” Bambam exclaimed whilst feeling around himself in pure panic.

“At the back of your damn head.” Mark teased.

The uncoordinated boy never failed to make the others laugh from his accident prone self as distant laughter could be heard from the other members piling into the Karin Karuma. Though whether it could still fairly be called a Kuruma was an open question - the damn thing had been modified with so many aftermarket parts and armoured body plating that it scarcely resembled the Mitsubishi knock-off they’d bought it as.

Normally the most rambunctious and carefree among them, the last few jobs had frayed Yugyeom’s nerves, the stress afflicting him with paranoia and insomnia in equal measure. Jinyoung’s usual disregard for traffic laws and passenger comfort probably wasn’t helping his stomach either.

“ _Ugh_ , I feel like throwing up.” Yugyeom groaned as Jinyoung accelerated towards their destination, fiddling restlessly with his rifle.

“There’s no need to feel nervous, we got this!” Youngjae reassured the youngest whilst having an arm linked with Jaebum. “Mhm, just keep focused and you’ll be controlling that crowd better than any other security guard could ever do.” Jaebum added onto the other’s words of encouragement as he felt like it was necessary being the leader, bringing Yugyeom into a small sidehug of reassurance along with a few pats on his shoulder before letting go.

“Keep telling yourselves that as soon as we get off the radar after this heist is done and dusted, we won’t have to worry about anything else for a good while.” Jaebum flashed a reassuring smile down at Youngjae as he made sure to keep eye contact with him whilst speaking. Although his words were directed to the entirety of the team, he could tell that the hacker of the group was feeling just as nervous as Yugyeom from the way he clung onto the leader’s arm.

“Well it would be great if we could get to the bank by today.” Mark cheekily looks over at Jinyoung in the driver’s seat as he says so.

The pent up driver makes sure to increase his speed drastically in order to not lash out at his fellow crewmate right there and then. Because _of course_ the man who only had to control the crowd and not have to steal any money or hack into any systems had something to say.

Mark smirks to himself as he feels the car pick up its acceleration, making their other peers in the back react with a clash of groans. Jinyoung flashes an apologetic stare at his crew through the rearview mirror.

* * *

 

“ _We have arrived_.”

Jinyoung skilfully used the parking brake to power slide and line up perfectly into the parking space of the main street. He had already fully analysed and cleared the car a week beforehand, stripping the parts of any serial numbers as well as making the machinery of the car be able to fold down so it wouldn’t make things so suspicious when rolling up to the bank. Not that he was particularly worried about being caught - it wasn’t like he had a ‘ _civilian_ ’ identity he needed to protect as he was mostly known as a homebody - but preparation was always key in these things.

The walk to the bank - a few yards of downtown Los Santos, in broad daylight - was one of the most surreal moments for the seven making their way to the bank. Their guns were all tucked away inside of shoulder-strapped duffel bags, true, but no one even gave them a second glance. In a city that had not one but _two_ professional paintball leagues, they probably looked like just another group of wannabes. Or perhaps cosplayers for a particularly unimaginative anime.

Jaebum was expecting his crew to bunch up by the door, to wait, to hesitate. To either need the final verbal or physical kick in the ass to get going, but nobody stopped. Yugyeom himself was first through the door, a strangely confident swagger to his step. With a wordless nod Jaebum set the heist in motion, adrenaline seeping into his veins – more potent than any drug.

The bank’s antechamber was mercifully empty, giving them a few moments to setup. Mark zip-tied the door shut with a pair of police grade plastic handcuffs. It was the kind of thing that would buy them no more than seconds in the face of serious opposition, but might deter a few wayward civilians. Not that they were particularly concerned about innocents being caught in the crossfire, but it would avoid a little less hassle if there were no casualties as this would most likely trigger a civilian to press the alarm under one of the worker’s desks.

Yugyeom rounded a corner - whoever was watching the CCTV feeds must have been on their break - and found himself facing the broad-shouldered back of a bank security guard. This will be easy, Yugyeom thought to himself as the target was clueless of what was happening behind him. Without another thought, the younger goes to swing for the man’s head.

“ _I missed_ _!_ ” Yugyeom shouted, more out of shock than to communicate information. _How_ had he missed? Some part of his brain reasoned the guard must have been less clueless than the younger boy thought out for him to be as he must have heard the rustling of fabric, the heavy footfall of his steps.

As the crew member was still taken aback, this bought the guard a few more seconds to land a gut-wrenching blow to his stomach before turning the boy around and pinning his arms back.

As a dragged out groan escaped the young one’s mouth, he still made it his priority to keep an eye out for any movement from the guard as he looked over at his right slightly, using his peripheral vision to aid him in what was happening behind him. Yugyeom managed to gain the momentum once seeing the guard raise his hand up to speak into his walkie-talkie, landing a sharp elbow blow to the guard’s face and knocking the guard out with a single slap across the head, making the once confident security guard plummet to the ground like dead weight. He was after all the quickest witted amongst the crew – it would surely take a lot more than a lucky swing to take him down.

Meanwhile bullets were flying at every angle of the bank.

_Point-four-five caliber handgun at that._

The shots went wide, shattering marble tiles somewhere far above Yugyeom, but they echoed in the cavernous bank. He smoothly manoeuvred himself behind a wall as he waited for the heat to die down as well as the ringing in his ears. Though he didn’t need to wait long - Jaebum had flanked the guard and beaten him unconscious with his typical brutality. The panicked shouts of the bank’s patrons were the only thing distracting them now.

_Two down. The rest of Los Santos to go._

* * *

 

“Crowd Control, you’re on crowd control,” barked Jaebum as he made his way over to the bank’s iron gate sealing the rest of the bank off from them. Neither Mark, Yugyeom nor Bambam commented as they knew by now that Jaebum was most likely talking to himself out loud. The three still take the time to check that the safeties on their carbines were off.

“I’m placing the thermal charge, watch out!” Jaebum hollered as he knelt down in front of the gate. His hands shook only slightly as he keyed in the activation sequence, wishing for the life of him that he didn’t have to listen to the cringe worthy chatter amongst the three doing crowd control in order to intimidate the civilians in his earpiece. After what felt like forever for both Jaebum and Youngjae to watch, the thermite finally manages to erode through the gate’s hinges – the thermite burning at an extremely high temperature – leaving them enveloped in a cloud of orange smoke. Normally Jaebum would’ve backed further away before triggering it, simply out of an abundance of caution, but the time pressure was too great now. The younger one besides Jaebum was quick to kick down the gate, earning a “Thank you, Youngjae-ah~” alongside a wink from his hyung. Although flustered from Jaebum’s actions, Youngjae is quick to help him in burning through the second lock, staying close to his leader whilst they made their way down the stairs, leading to the bank’s vault.

Another hapless security guard rounded the corner, managing to squeeze off a trio of shots square into Jaebum’s chest. This only made the crew leader chuckle to himself as he silently thanked their boss for providing the crew secure bulletproof chest pieces. It was dangerous to get into the habit of relying on it too much though – it always lingered at the back of Jaebum’s head – but right now he wasn’t too worried about the vest. He focused on when to slam his fist into the guard’s surprisingly chiselled jawline.

As expected, the taller one of the two started to charge similar to how a bull would at the guard – and what a pussy the man in his way was. The poor guard didn’t even shoot, paralysed by fear at the impact of the man’s hits. The guard tried to climb to his feet, bruises already swelling from where Jaebum had kicked him, but was shortly backhanded into unconsciousness for his trouble.

“Ooh, you bitch-slapped him hyung!” Youngjae cooed as he was about to go ahead of Jaebum, only to hear a familiar chuckle. This made both boys’ eyes snap to the source in a heartbeat. That same source being someone who is supposed to be covering their asses right now.

“Bambam! Get your dumbass back up there!”

“Go do your job man!” Youngjae repeated for emphasis, though he couldn’t completely conceal the amusement in his voice. Whenever it came to Jaebum’s frustration with Bambam, Youngjae couldn’t help but find his hyung’s short temper amusing.

“You said cover the stairs.” Bambam grumbled, exasperated as he backtracked his way back up to the bank’s main floor.

“ _I hate you guys_ so _much_.” Jinyoung’s voice could be heard through their earpieces, an audible snigger coming from Jackson’s end shortly after.

“Okay but you said go on the stairs…”

“Jesus, I meant _cover the stairs_.” Jaebum shouted back over the walkie-talkie.

“The stairs going _up_ ,” Youngjae added, for clarity.

* * *

 

Jinyoung felt his blood pressure rising with each passing second. That was something his doctor had warned him about. He wasn’t particularly _scared_ , but every miscommunication was probably shaving a few weeks off his life. Which judging by how long he had been with this crew, meant that if he hit fifty it’d be a minor medical miracle.

Since Jinyoung had been crowd control a few times in smaller bank jobs, he knew for certain that it had to be one of the easiest jobs to have. Maintain being scary and shoot your gun whenever people fidget too much, simple as that really. It was so simple that it was _completely fucking beyond him_ why Bambam couldn’t stick to it.

The leader and his sidekick seeing Bambam sprinting back down the stairwell to the vault whilst being pursued by two bank security guards wildly firing at his back surely made a confirmation for the two that things had gone completely to shit.

Yugyeom and Mark came down shortly after, aiming their rifles at each guard. The first guard fell in a hail of bullets as a dozen holes perforated his dress shirt where Mark’s rounds had clustered together. Yugyeom started firing at the second guard without pause, only for a pane of bulletproof glass to save the man from immediate death. Unfortunately for the guard, the different between ‘immediate death’ and ‘death at a later time” made no difference as it turned out to be two, maybe three seconds before getting downed by Mark’s headshot due to his angling.

Keeping someone as inept as Bambam is a whole different skillset in itself.

* * *

 

Youngjae unlocked his tablet, a little handheld device that he had modified to run a punishing impact to anyone’s system, and began running through the step-by-step process to unlock the bank vault. Although hearing several shouts, gunfire and even a body hitting the floor behind him, he paid no mind in what was happening around him as he focused on the main prize.

Back in college, Youngjae had been something of a computer guru. A self-taught jack-of-all-trades, capable of coding and networking and database managing and all the other employable skills you were supposed to put on your résumé. To feel like he was doing the bare minimum when running the hacking programme, he couldn’t help but take pride in how skilled he really was when it came to this hacking shit.

He brute-forced the password to unlock the vault - the computer science equivalent of driving a car through a front door to commit a burglary - smiling mostly to himself when he learned that the password was CASHMONEY. There was no doubt that an unsupervised IT nerd out there must’ve took their amusement where he could. The vault door, a twenty-ton monstrosity that is perfectly capable of surviving a small atomic explosion, swung open on the hinges that it was so precisely balanced upon. Youngjae allowed himself a brief sense of satisfaction as he grinned at Jaebum’s praise whilst stepping over the threshold alongside him.

And there it was.

Stacks and stacks of cash laid in front of them, just waiting to be taken.

And take they did.

Every handful was the equivalent of what a lower income family took home in a year, and they were dropping fat stacks into their waterproof duffel bags. He had stolen gold before too, and cash was infinitely preferable. Lightweight, malleable, and you didn’t have to worry about finding a fence.

This was freedom.

* * *

 

The alarm went off.

The two had been waiting for it for some time, knowing that it was inevitable but unsure of the precise timing. It was ultimately irrelevant by now anyways. The trio upstairs had their positions and the hostages to keep the police from ever storming the bank, and the five of them had more than sufficient firepower to blow their way out of whatever the police had in store for them.

Jaebum was singularly confident in this. It was just a matter of wrangling his accomplices to his mind set.

Jaebum and Youngjae barely glanced at the hostages as they made their way back through the bank lobby. A angrier, more vengeful Jaebum might have tried to figure out who sounded the alarm - or simply shot a few to convey his displeasure. The thought still floated through his mind, but only fleetingly. Vengeance was a luxury that they didn’t have the time to indulge in.

_Yet_.

Bambam, Yugyeom, Mark and Youngjae were stacked up by the main door of the bank, cradling their rifles as their fingers itched to pull the trigger. Jaebum could feel it, too. The adrenaline in his veins, the blood pounding in his ears. The certainty that yes, there _would_ be violence. Every muscle was begging to be put to use.

With a combat knife, the leader effortlessly sliced through the zip-ties holding the doors together, poking his head out to get a lay of the situation.

After a matter of seconds, the others see the leader duck back down as a high calibre bullet skimmed through the wooden panelling of the door beside his head. He hadn’t expected the cops to be so trigger-happy, not when there were a dozen-plus hostages in the bank whom the LSPD normally had a duty to serve & protect.

He’d seen enough though. A handful of police cruisers, officers with handguns and Kevlar vests. No N.O.O.S.E, no helicopters, but those were only a matter of time. Fine by him.

“You got a minigun right, Jaebum?” inquired Youngjae.

“Indeed I do-“

“Would you guys hurry up? Jackson can’t hold ‘em back forever.” Jinyoung could be heard with a heavy raged tone ringing through their ears, making the leader hurry along with a few apologies here and there from the crew members.

Jaebum unslung his duffel bag long enough to withdraw the monstrosity he was packing within. Technically it was an ‘ _electric cannon_ ’, and was really meant to be affixed to helicopters and gunboats rather than touted about by individuals.

Which is why the LCPD would never, _ever_ see it coming.

“Everyone keep behind the wall.”

Jaebum barely finished his sentence before the barrel had finished spooling up, a river of bullets suddenly rushing from the muzzle. The doors to the bank weren’t so much blown open but rather _blown to pieces_ , literally disintegrating as one hundred bullets a second cut through them like a shōji wall.

The nearest police cruiser was annihilated in a few frenzied heartbeats, the bullets puncturing the fuel tank and creating a pretty little inferno a few moments later. The local cops had the good sense to fall back at that, retreating from the killing field that had appeared at the intersection in front of the Pacific Standard Bank.

“ _Okay Jaebummie, push forward_ …”

* * *

 

“Okay Jaebum, push forward.”

Although Youngjae was standing right next to Jaebum, he still spoke directly into the walkie talkie in order for him to hear through the earpiece. No way was his voice going to carry over the sound of rapid bullets being fired. Jaebum’s torrent tore up cars, pavement and nearby storefronts, while the bullet casings left in its wake created a veritable slipping hazard.

They finally exited the bank in a sloppy diamond formation, Jaebum providing suppressive fire to the remaining few left outside the bank whilst the remaining four bolted towards the Kuruma. Even with his shades on, it took Jackson a few seconds to adjust to the glare of the sunlight as he rose up from the backseat to take over shooting with his beloved machinery. Jaebum covers for Jackson’s lack of shooting whilst the gunzerker pauses momentarily, quickly dashing into the backseat of the car once he got the heads up from Jackson that he was ready.

“Seatbelts on, bodies hunched over. I want you bitches tucked in to the point where you’re not even visible when the cops try to peer through the window, you hear me?” Jinyoung would check behind him to make sure all of the gang was here, going to look back at the road when his gaze couldn’t help but freeze on the empty passenger seat next to him. Getting out in one swift motion whilst grumbling to himself, Jinyoung darted towards the entrance of the bank. Due to heavily focusing on his target, it was easy for the getaway driver to block out the commotion that was happening over his earpiece. When spotting the lanky member, he was quick to grab him by the collar of his turtleneck followed by snatching him up off of his feet whilst shaking him aggressively – despite the height difference.

“Motherfucker, what the fuck do you think you’re doing? You better be thankful for us clearing out the entirety of what was out there, we don’t have much time until backup come.” Jinyoung has no intention of letting go as he looked up at Mark, searching for an answer with his own expression.

 “The earpiece! It stopped working! No matter how much I yelled no one was listening!” Mark sounded slightly out of breath from the panicked state he was currently going through.

This only resulted in Mark getting another shake around from the shorter one.

“Did you not just figure to go out when the others did and follow close behind- What the fuck am I doing, we don’t have time for this.” He grabbed the dumbfounded one’s hand as he made his way out, not letting Mark catch up with his pace as he practically dragged him along and into the Kuruma.

“Good luck in there, kiddo. You’re about to get absolutely flamed.”

Once back in the driver’s seat, Jinyoung makes sure not to waste time in speeding off when everyone was once again reunited.

After a massive argument pursues – although hard to hear through Jackson’s machine gun, cop sirens, as well as the fact that their heads practically on their laps – everyone settles down once Mark had explained the technical difficulties he had faced along with how he wasn’t sure if they had cleared everything outside or not. Although some couldn’t help but still think of the fact that the boy was indeed in the same room as them as they replanned the whole heist so what made him so hesitant to get out of the bank?

Jinyoung had a massive advantage over the boys in blue, the latter being armed only with pistols, barely effective when it came to the armoured Kuruma. Jackson’s machine gun was effective at easily three times the range at the distance they were being gunned down at and his bullets were the steel-tipped, armour piercing sort. It was grossly unfair.

However so was life. The group of seven just made sure to be on the right side of luck.

Two cruisers which had been blockading east-west traffic on Vinewood evaporated in the hail of bullets from Jackson’s heavy artillery, littering the road with a mixture of broken glass, metal and bodies.

* * *

 

“ _I’m taking bullets_!”

Jackson’s voice fills the car’s silence apart from Mark’s voice guiding Jinyoung on where to go via the navigation app installed on his phone, causing Jackson to duck under for a while and apologising quietly to whoever he was stepping on in the process.

“Hang in there, I’m trying to take the quietest route to make it easy for both you and me.” Jinyoung shouted in reply, cursing to himself as he ran over two LSPD motorbikes. Getaways had never been their strongest suit, and their route had drifted apart before starting to reach Vinewood Hills.

After the road started to clear up, Jackson finished up on munching on some of the corner store snacks he snuck into his cargo trousers’ pockets. Of _course_ he would still have an appetite at a time like this, Jinyoung thought to himself whilst looking in the rearview mirror at his feverish member. Being quick to get behind the gun once again, Jackson swung around so that he was facing the front, being on the lookout for any helicopters that would be coming their way. Fortunately, one had arrived shortly after Jackson’s plan, guns blazing at whichever dumbass happened to poke his head out from the middle of the heli. The sniper seemed to be an exceptional marksman, skimming a gunshot or two beside Jackson, but not good enough compared to the amount of mags Jackson was burning through fast. The thunderous crescendo of Jackson’s minigun filled the streets as he took down the sniper skilfully, turning their military-grade carbines into pea shooters in comparison. Jinyoung couldn’t help but marvel at the explosion that had just been unleashed in the sky due to Jackson’s machine gun, quickly focusing back on the road a few moments later.

“We’re clear from behind for now.” Jackson exclaimed. “All eyes still.” he called out while mostly turning 90 degrees every once in a while. For the first time in what felt like forever, the crew couldn’t hear any bullets, just a ringing in their ears and the skidding of tires coming from the Kuruma. Distant siren noises surrounded them from every direction, enclosing them like the IMAX Private Cinemas they would soon be able to afford.

Jinyoung’s heart quickened. The first leg of their escape was in sight as they were nearing towards Blaine County on the highway.

Jackson downed a few more helicopters with a few seconds’ fire before continuing to spray the upcoming cop cars that came on road. Jinyoung drifted off the sides of the paves road, making it all the harder for the police cruisers to intercept them as they barrelled towards their destination. As he made a hard ninety-degree turn to the left, the expert narrowly dodged an oncoming four-door sedan whilst swinging onto the dirt road towards Raton Canyon. One of the cops – a state trooper – cursed vividly as his car failed to make the turn.

“These cop cars ain’t got shit on us.” Jackson snorted whilst Jinyoung revved the accelerator in response. His comment earned him a few chuckles from his members. Adrenaline was making them giddy, almost euphoric.

Perhaps they really _were_ crazy enough for this to work.

* * *

 

“Cops ahead, _cops ahead_!” Jinyoung called out, trying his best to keep his precision and not lose track and spin off the road.

He had to admit that even he, the one who usually got everyone out of bullshit, did not want to be here. They were on a switchback dirt road, with no guardrails, no room to manoeuvre, and the LSPD had apparently managed to find a way to intercept them. A blue-and-white helicopter was descending _fucking majestically_ into the canyon, swooping through the valley like an angel of death as a police gunner opened fire on the crew.

“We do _not_ have a lot of manoeuvre room here.”

He dodged one cruiser, then an SUV, narrowly avoiding the latter by hugging close to the cliff wall. The one advantage that the boys had here was that they could easily slip past the bulkier and clumsier police cruisers.

“We’re almost at the dingy. It’s right here, it’s right here. We need to get off, shoot like _fucking_ crazy, kill everyone around us, and then someone _get in_.” Jinyoung demanded, raising his voice purely for the fact that it was hard to hear with the calamity happening around them.

That had all sounded a lot more sensible back in the planning room.

Jaebum kept his hand on the car door handle warily as Jinyoung kept a steady pace before taking a sharp turn and sliding onto the loose sand by the edge of the embankment. As Jaebum looked round his surroundings, he made sure to let his members know that there were two cruisers in his rear-view mirror and twa helicopter circling overhead, but he barely had time to think of a plan.

“I’m switching to my minigun. Yugyeom, you’re taking my money and going with Youngjae straight to the dingy. Take cover if needed, that boat won’t be going anywhere anytime soon so there’s no rush.” Jaebum asserted, not even giving the boys a chance to reply as he yanked Jackson down from the gun for a moment by the belt loop of his cargo trousers. Jackson, Bambam, Mark, Jinyoung, you’ll be taking the heat off the two escaping to the boat by working on clearing the whole area out whilst I take out that bastard helicopter. This’ll give the two more of an advantage of making it without any money lost. Jackson, you stay with that machine gun of yours to help out with taking cops out. As soon as the area’s cleared, that’s when we need to start hurrying our asses up to the boat, just in case the feds surprise up with backup.” The crew said their final good lucks before heading out one by one.

Easier said than done.

Jaebum’s duffel bag had become a complete mess due to how he was scrunched up during the whole ride, and the pieces of the minigun – disassembled so he could actually fit it into his bag – were all over the place, along with the components for a dozen-odd other guns, bombs and assorted criminal accessories. There was more than a bit of blood on everything too, though most of it wasn’t his.

“What am I doing?” Jaebum yelled at himself, half-sprinting down the riverbank’s dusty path so he could use the upcoming pine tree and boulders as cover between him and the bullets of the law enforcement. “Get the minigun out!”

If any of his companions had something to say about the leader yelling at himself, they had learned to keep it to themselves.

All that could be heard for the next five minutes was a straight up abundance of noise as the sound of a range of high tech weapons could be heard spraying in every possible direction. Jaebum had managed to slap his minigun together a few moments later, making short work of the aggravating helicopter that had been hovering over them before making his way back to the hard working four to put his heavy weapon to good use.

As they continued with taking police officers down like bowling pins, Jaebum couldn’t help but feel a sudden pang of defeat as he spotted a herd of new LSPD recruit SUVS start to gather by the entrance of the embankment to make their way towards the crew.

Before Jaebum could open his mouth, a distant “Fuck me, we’ll never be able to get away from them!” could be heard from Jinyoung as he took cover behind the Kuruma.

“We’ll be-“

A few hundred yards down the riverbank, Youngjae could be spotted backing the speedboat up, audibly swearing even without the radio link.

“Everyone get in!” Yugyeom hollered at his members from the passenger seat of the dingy whilst snapping his submachine gun into a firing position. “Jaebum, I’m covering you!”

And with Yugyeom’s words, Jaebum began a mad sprint across the exposed riverbank to the boat, zigging and zagging with wanton disregard for the danger of running _directly_ into Yugyeom’s line-of-fire. Yugyeom was nowhere near a good enough shot to be certain of his accuracy, but with the other gunning members being too busy in getting themselves up onto the boat, they didn’t have much choice. The bullets from Yugyeom’s uzi flew over _both_ of Jaebum’s shoulders, luckily shooting into dense foliage as Jaebum dodged.

“Five of us are in the dinghy, _get in_!” yelled Jackson once on, barely audible over the sound of gunfire and helicopter rotors.

“Five?” Jaebum mouthed to himself as he looked around, his gaze shortly getting caught on Bambam as the boy nervously tapped his foot into the water, still ashore.

“If your ass don’t start swimming-“ Jaebum cut himself off as he glanced up at the remaining helicopter circling overhead. His minigun spooled to life.

Now was the hard part, smoothly getting on that boat.

The remaining two only had to swim a few meters to the boat, but it may as well have been crossing the English Channel for the leader. He was carrying at least thirty kilos of arms and armour – none of them buoyant in the slightest – and as soon as he set foot in the creek, he felt the water tugging him downwards. It wasn’t more than a few meters deep but it took every last strength within him to keep his head above-water.

With every stroke, Bambam was regretting his brave decision of waiting up for his leader. He had intended to swim alongside Jaebum to give his leader encouragement to make it to their escape, but with the amount of near death experiences he had faced during the entire heist, he couldn’t help but feel exhausted.

A bullet hit the water a few feet from his head, creating a small spray. That kept him kicking.

Jaebum made it to the boat first, and mercifully he had the strength to haul Bambam in with him. Bambam rolled over the edge into the dinghy with the grace of a fish out of water, staring at the sky for a moment as he took the time to catch his breath. Sirens, gunfire and helicopters filled his ears.

The orchestra of his life.

Jaebum reached for Bambam’s gun and began firing backwards, deafening Bambam briefly as he had shot a helicopter gunner from fifty yards. As Jaebum ejected the magazine of the gun, Bambam stared – vaguely hypnotized – as the cop toppled out of the chopper, his corpse landing right where the river met the sand. From this distance, he couldn’t make out any blood, but he had no doubt that it was there.

“ _Gogogogogo!”_

Jaebum bellowed as soon as he got him and Bambam seated, and Youngjae slammed the throttle as far forward as it would go. He knew what he was doing. This was the same thing they had used for a fair few other gigs. He had something similar to it growing up, and he had spent days just criss-crossing his local bay, familiarising himself with the handling of boats and the whims of the waters. They hadn’t planned who would pilot the boat out, but Youngjae thought that his fate had been generous today.

“ _Everything dies_!” Jackson howled as five SMGs alit as one, thunderous even over the slapping of the hull on the water. There was barely any chance in them hitting anything, Jaebum knew, but like _hell_ was he going to discourage his boys.

“Just keep shooting, boys!” Jaebum continued. A police boat, yards out at sea was shortly bombarded with gunfire, rendering it unseaworthy in seconds.

Yugyeom took a glance at the boat’s sat nav as he checked where they were at, cheering when he had seen a small line on the screen. “There’s the exit! We’re almost in the clear boys!” The small mark was where the waters of the United States ended and where the United Mexican states began. It was an arbitrary line, a shared illusion, but it was also their freedom. There were no Mexican vessels to capture them on the horizon, and there surely were no American boats that could follow them there. Not with the current state of the bilateral relationship between the two countries.

“Don’t crash the boat, whatever you do Youngjae,” Jinyoung half-pleaded, half-threatened, but as soon as they had passed the bridge, there was nothing for them to hit. No sandbanks. No buoys.

“Don’t worry, I’m going to _drive us the hell out of here_.”

Youngjae ducked on instinct, squinting his eyes to keep the saltwater out as the speedboat slammed into a large wave. When standing upright, the guns were silent. The little blue dot on the sat nav was now firmly in the territorial waters of Baja California.

He glanced over his shoulder in disbelief, but sure enough, as he saw that the LSPD boats had swept to a stop as well as the helicopters had started heading back, as if trapped by an invisible net in the sky.

As another wave crashed over the boat, the crew began screaming as one.


End file.
